Bursa ends lower on weak market sentiment

July 23, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 – Share prices on Bursa Malaysia ended in the negative territory today amid weak market sentiment, dealers said.

At close, the underlying FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 6.83 points or 0.42 per cent to 1,636.17.

The barometer index, which opened at 1,642.84, fluctuated between 1,635.12 and 1,643.33 throughout the day.

Dealers said the current negative external market sentiment following concerns on the euro zone debt crisis, as well as slowdown in the US and China, pressured the equities market.

HwangDBS Vickers Research Sdn Bhd said renewed concerns over euro-zone’s crisis saw the Spanish 10-year government bond yield hitting a new high and forced Wall Street to finish weaker last Friday.

Major US equity indices slipped between 0.9 per cent and 1.4 per cent while the Dow Jones Industrial Average September futures month contract was trading at a 100-point or 0.8 per cent discount to the spot rate this morning.

“The performance of local bourse is completely affected by external forces. Sentiment may continue to be bearish unless there is major positive news,” Mercury Securities Head of Research, Edmund Tham said.

He said a Chinese central bank board member warned of slowing growth and expected growth may decline to 7.4 per cent in the third quarter after recording 7.6 per cent in the second quarter.

In euro zone, Valencia, which is Spain’s second most indebted region, was seeking a bailout and the government lowered its economic forecasts for the next three years, he said.

Back home, the Finance Index declined 20.77 points to 14,670.44, the Plantation Index fell 64.87 points to 8,800.06 and the Industrial Index was 7.32 points lower at 2,867.3.

The FBM Emas Index went down 64.29 points to 11,193.18, the FBMT100 decreased 60.061 points to 11,013.59 and the FBM Ace Index was 20.8 points lower at 4,279.8.

Decliners led advancers by 565 to 194 while 312 counters closed unchanged, 517 untraded and 12 others suspended.

Total volume fell to 915.89 million shares worth RM1.22 billion from 1.22 billion shares valued at RM1.72 billion last Friday. – Bernama